Huge tree in neighbours garden putting our garden in shade

[LillyLeaf]

Just wandering people's thoughts on this. We recently moved and have a lovely garden which is mostly in shade from about 1pm onwards due to the neighbours enormous tree that is right next to our wall, if it wasn't so big we would have sun for the rest of the day. The tree overhangs our garden a lot which doesn't help either. I'm all for trees in the garden but this one is massive, bigger than a house. I'm hoping to grow fruit and veg next year but not sure I can with it being so shaded. We had big trees in our previous garden that we got a tree surgeon to prune so they never got too big.

My question is would it be rude to ask them to cut it back a bit (quite a bit actually) or even pay halves for a tree surgeon. Is this rude? They are not next door neighbours but their garden is at the end of ours.

What would you do?

You have got a hard time here, I think unfairLy.

I had an awful run in with a neighbour a few years ago over sycamore trees growing tight against my fence. They didn’t even belong to this lady and I was trimming over hanging branches which were brushing g against the side of my house and my washing line.

She accused me of invading her privacy by cutting all the trees down. I tried to reason with this Lunatic and even offered to show her the trimmings (about a foot in length - well inside my boundary) but she just kept yelling about her privacy. My fences are six feet high. To this day I don’t know why she looks like☺️.

People go crazy about trees. But unless there is a protection order they don’t have rights to allow their trees to come into your land.

I think planting or not maintaining trees on a boundary without thought to what is on the other side of the boundary is incredibly selfish.

This from the GardenLaw website:

Branches that grow so as to overhang your neighbours' land are trespassing on his air space. The neighbour can chop the branches back to the boundary but he has to return the lopped branches to the owner of the tree together with any fruit that might have been on them. If he lops beyond his boundary then it is a trespass. It is always best to ask your neighbour first although you do not need his permission to lop overhanging branches so long as they are returned.

You could sue the owner of the tree or shrubs for trespass; nuisance and/or negligence (in this case if they become dangerous).

Most trees respond to pruning by growing more on the pruned side. The exception to this is leylandii which grow away from pruning. Our neighbours had a leylandii hedge which they didnt maintain. We pruned it right back to the boundary so over time it grew more and more into their own garden. When they moved and new neighbours removed the hedge their usable garden near doubled in size.

Me neither, but unless people have been in a similar position, they often don't understand how badly an overgrown tree can affect someone's enjoyment of their own garden. It's ludicrous the way some people imply that because the tree was there first, it should be left to grow unchecked, as though all trees are sacred. Those are the types I think of as "tree huggers".
Of course all trees aren't sacred, but equally trees don't tend to appear out of nowhere between viewing a house and moving in. If the idea of shade is problematic then the safest thing to do is not buy a house with established trees close by.

We ruled out some houses because of some larger trees in the neighbouring gardens as it would inevitably create a lot of shade.

Summer on Mumsnet always has dozens of threads that can be summarised as: I bought a house and there was a tree in my neighbour's garden, but now it's a nice sunny day and my garden is shaded I want to ask them to remove it/trim it back. It's so awful I don't get to enjoy all day sun in a garden that I knew was close to trees.

I fully agree planting trees on boundaries is selfish. You want a pretty tree to look at, but know it will take up a lot of space so you plant it right in the corner.

Then do nothing to control it and 40 or 50% browns into your neighbours garden.

My neighbour has about six sycamore trees that form a hedge. They are messy, full of bugs and the grass won’t grown in my tiny garden anymore. I get no sunlight and all my washing and garden furniture gets covered in sap.

They don’t care. They have been growing now for about twelve years in a tiny urban garden. They are a giant woodland tree and I dread to think what size they will be in another ten years.

So you did notice the tree but though you are entitled to have it cut because it doesn't suit you?

This attitude is everything that's wrong with people and hurts the environment and all of us, you included.

The OP said they viewed in November when the branches were bare. It's easy to not know how dense the foliage is going to be in summer.

Planting trees which negatively impact other people is selfish.

We have planted fruit trees in our garden but I deliberately chose dwarfing root stock so they wouldn't shade neighbours. All it takes is a bit of thought.

We have asked a neighbour to do something about their trees which are now looming over our garden. Thankfully the neighbour is a business with regular grounds keepers so hopefully the response will be reasonable (has been so far).

I have some sympathy. Many people do not adequately look after large trees in their garden. They are reluctant to pay tree surgeons to prune and thin when required, and as a result end up with huge trees taking over gardens and blocking light for others.

We have had to remove two trees from our garden as they were at risk of causing damage to our property and our neighbours property even with regular pruning. That was the responsible thing to do.

The OP said they viewed in November when the branches were bare. It's easy to not know how dense the foliage is going to be in summer.

It's a tree, it's safe to assume it will be covered in leaves in the Summer. It's not a surprise when the leaves appear.

I had branches from a neighbours trees cut right back to the fence line.
But because they overhung my garden I had to pay for it.
Will need doing again in a couple of years.

A tree surgeon will do a crown reduction. My tree surgeon will happily tell you that some trees belong in parks and never in back gardens as they grow too big and tall and impact too many houses surrounding them.

He is of the mind that you can remove a tree and plant a much more appropriate one taking into account the size of the garden and what is surrounding it.

I do understand not realising how much the tree would shade your garden when you looked in the winter time. I would put a note through to the neighbour asking them about whether you could pay for a reduction stating that it shades your garden for an extended period of the day. They might bite your hand off.

We removed a mature silver birch which was the height of the house roof ridge from a modern estate garden which we knew must cast a shadow into the neighbour's garden. After it was removed they thanked us as they had asked the previous owners who had refused.

@goingtotown

No harm in asking the neighbour they may be happy to pay half. A tree surgeon will cost ££££££££’s

That's not been my experience and we've had a number of trees thinned and lopped, plus some felled with stump removal. Mine is a qualified tree surgeon and I'd say his rates are very reasonable (we live in the SE).

There's no harm in explaining it blocks your sun and seeing if they'd consider pruning it and offering a 50/50 pay split. They can only say no? Be friendly and you've got nothing to lose.

If you’ve recently bought the house at the bottom of my garden - please do come and talk to me about it, and especially if you offer to pay or go halves, we will be booking the tree surgeon right away! It’s something we mean to do but know it costs a lot and hasn’t made it to the top of the priority list but knowing it would cost half what we fear could be a hefty bill would push it right to the top!

With respect to the fruit and vegetables you want to grow, my garden is very shaded by neighbours tree, shaded all day in winter but I am able to grow fruit and vegetables so I suspect it won't be a problem.

Part of my garden has been shaded by my neighbours tree. Any branches that hang onto your side or Over the boundary line you can cut off. I’ve just done it with mine. They have a huge conifer and it’s awful so I clipped off as much as I could from my side.

"Summer on Mumsnet always has dozens of threads that can be summarised as: I bought a house and there was a tree in my neighbour's garden, but now it's a nice sunny day and my garden is shaded I want to ask them to remove it/trim it back. It's so awful I don't get to enjoy all day sun in a garden that I knew was close to trees."
@LolaSmiles Fair point. Mind you, unless people are keen gardeners, they may not notice which way the garden faces when they view a property, especially during winter when the sky is cloudy and it's not always easy to see which way is south.

@GnomeDePlume You are so right. I wish more people used common sense when choosing trees for their gardens.

@EastWestWhosBest

My garden. It’s full of trees and there is much shade.

It doesn’t make it impossible to grow anything, ugly or gloomy.

Some plants only grow properly with sun for the majority of the day. And most people enjoy being in their garden in the sunshine. A fully shaded garden is not something most people desire. Hence the premium for houses with south and west facing gardens.

Some plants only grow properly with sun for the majority of the day. And most people enjoy being in their garden in the sunshine. A fully shaded garden is not something most people desire. Hence the premium for houses with south and west facing gardens.

Some plants do, so don’t plant them.
Having a shady garden is a challenge but you can make it work. Some people are carrying on like it just turns into the swamp of despair the moment you have shade.
I have a south facing garden, I also have a lot of trees. Should I want to sit in the sun I can do so at the top of my garden. The rest of it is in shade. It’s tricky to garden but not impossible.

@EastWestWhosBest

Some plants only grow properly with sun for the majority of the day. And most people enjoy being in their garden in the sunshine. A fully shaded garden is not something most people desire. Hence the premium for houses with south and west facing gardens.

Some plants do, so don’t plant them.
Having a shady garden is a challenge but you can make it work. Some people are carrying on like it just turns into the swamp of despair the moment you have shade.
I have a south facing garden, I also have a lot of trees. Should I want to sit in the sun I can do so at the top of my garden. The rest of it is in shade. It’s tricky to garden but not impossible.

The vast majority of plants won't flourish with minimal sunshine.

That's great for you. My garden also has areas shaded by neighbouring trees or those on my own property at certain times which are sunny areas at different times of day. Perhaps - if it's not beyond the bounds of comtemplation for you - some people may have smaller gardens than we do and therefore a particularly large tree might plunge their entire garden into shade for most of the day, and prevent them from successfully growing many things in a garden that otherwise has a good aspect.

I mean won't flourish in minimal sunlight! Obviously.

Aaargh it's late 😴😴

I'd ask them op. We have large trees in our gardens which luckily due to the layout of nearby houses don't cast a shadow into our or anyone else's back gardens. However if someone knocked I'd try to be as accommodating as possible though ours do have several nests each so wouldn't be able to do too much.

@MagentaDragon Exactly. IME limited sunlight very much limits the choice of what can be grown successfully, and shady conditions are breeding grounds for slugs and fungus gnats - two things that can cause problems for gardeners.

When I see an attractive plant in a garden centre, particularly something that has colourful flowers, 9 times out of 10 the label will state that the plant is best placed in full sun. Some sun loving plants can tolerate part shade, but sun lovers don't truly thrive in shady conditions, and the same is true for many humans. Large majestic trees are great in a park setting, or on huge country estates, but have no place in small gardens, in my opinion.

[quote UrbanRambler]@MagentaDragon Exactly. IME limited sunlight very much limits the choice of what can be grown successfully, and shady conditions are breeding grounds for slugs and fungus gnats - two things that can cause problems for gardeners.

When I see an attractive plant in a garden centre, particularly something that has colourful flowers, 9 times out of 10 the label will state that the plant is best placed in full sun. Some sun loving plants can tolerate part shade, but sun lovers don't truly thrive in shady conditions, and the same is true for many humans. Large majestic trees are great in a park setting, or on huge country estates, but have no place in small gardens, in my opinion.[/quote]
I agree completely. I am not an expert gardener but know enough to know exqctly what you said is true: most plants like a decent amount of sun. And why wouldn't they? It's like saying most humans survive better with a decent amount of food. Fairly obvious even to a novice. Plus most people actually want to enjoy being in their garden and most people enjoy sunshine. So yes, planting trees that will grow huge next to borders that will eventually result in blocking much of your neighbour's sunlight in their garden is massively selfish. Refusing to prune them even if not planted by you is just as bad. Most residential gardens these days are small and the shade from one large tree could ruin someone else's enjoyment of their garden. I'm all for trees, but in appropriate places to their proportions.

You can check for a TPO online.

Thinning the crown would help but depending on the tree species it may be short sighted. My neighbour did this with no care or consideration and ruined a beautiful tree on his side. Nature has however taken revenge and sprouted a billion new thick shoots and whilst our side is medium dappled shade, his is now an impenetrable thick growth of fresh shoots with the density of branching only ever found in a well tended hedge.

TDLR - Poor soul made his shade issue 100x worse irreversibly.

OP I'm on your side as vitamin d from sunshine for good health is a must for us hoomans and for the growth of plants